The USAGE clause specifies the format of a data item in computer storage.
___ Format 1 ___________________________________________________________________________ | | | >>__ _______________ __ _BINARY__ __________ ____________ __________________________>< | | |_USAGE__ ____ _| | |_ NATIVE _| | | | |_IS_| |_COMP____________________________| | | |_ COMP-1 __ __________ __________| | | | |_ NATIVE _| | | | |_ COMP-2 __ __________ __________| | | | |_ NATIVE _| | | | |_ COMP-3 ________________________| | | |_ COMP-4 __ __________ __________| | | | |_ NATIVE _| | | | | (1) | | | |_ COMP-5 ________________________| | | |_COMPUTATIONAL___________________| | | |_ COMPUTATIONAL-1 __ __________ _| | | | |_ NATIVE _| | | | |_ COMPUTATIONAL-2 __ __________ _| | | | |_ NATIVE _| | | | |_ COMPUTATIONAL-3 _______________| | | |_ COMPUTATIONAL-4 __ __________ _| | | | |_ NATIVE _| | | | | (1) | | | |_ COMPUTATIONAL-5 _______________| | | |_DISPLAY__ __________ ___________| | | | |_ NATIVE _| | | | |_ DISPLAY-1 __ __________ _______| | | | |_ NATIVE _| | | | |_ INDEX _________________________| | | |_| objref phrase |_____________| | | |_PACKED-DECIMAL__________________| | | |_ POINTER _______________________| | | |_ PROCEDURE-POINTER _____________| | | | | objref phrase : | | |__ OBJECT REFERENCE __ ___________________________________________ _________________| | | |_ _______________________ __ class-name-1 _| | | |_ METACLASS __ ______ _| | | |_ OF _| | | | | Note: | X | (1) COMP-5 and COMPUTATIONAL-5 are only supported on AIX, OS/2, and Windows. | | | X | The NATIVE phrase is treated as a comment for COMP-3, COMPUTATIONAL-3, COMP-5, | X | COMPUTATIONAL-5, and PACKED-DECIMAL data items. NATIVE has no effect on OS/390 | X | and VM. | | | |________________________________________________________________________________________|The USAGE clause can be specified for a data description entry with a level-number other than 66 or 88. However, if it is specified at the group level, it applies to each elementary item in the group. The usage of an elementary item must not contradict the usage of a group to which the elementary item belongs.
The USAGE clause specifies the format in which data is represented in storage. The format can be restricted if certain Procedure Division statements are used.
When the USAGE clause is not specified at either the group or elementary level, it is assumed that the usage is DISPLAY.
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